This struck me as a topic a couple of weeks ago. I thought, “This should be an interesting challenge for me.” It was planted as a seed when I began writing the Coffee Talk with a Barista series. I have always compared the Moxie Girls to every other coffee place and pretty much most retail in general. And then this thought entered my head.
Where do you start? Which is more important? The easy answer is both. They both are equally important to the nature of a retail business. But one always seems to come across as dominant. My initial reflections on this topic led me to define the larger you get the degree of importance shifts to efficiency. And the smaller you may be, the more time and effort may be placed on the “friendly factor”. Don’t laugh with the obvious inference – size matters to this equation. The bigger realization and certainly the bigger challenge is, should it? Really, should the size of an organization holistically factor so much that the amount of friendliness diminishes as you get successful and grow? Seriously, that sounds counter-intuitive. If anything, it is the roots and the core values that make you grow. And things should continue to amplify in the growth. Not so true.
Consider my coffee theme, which by the way is so surreal. I have only been drinking coffee for the last 4 years and these last many blog posts linger in this aspect of the service industry. Retail is retail. Anyway, I digress. There is a coffee giant all over the world. They have been growing for the past 30 plus years. I contend, that in an effort to handle the line-ups (an external indicator of success and growth), they have had to become more focused on efficiency in operations as means to support the speed of business. Let me say that another way. The team member at the cash register may be less concerned with being “friendly” and more concerned with the other team member getting the order right and in such a way to speed the process.
Here comes the “let’s be real” moment for us both. They have to be that way, right? If you have 6 people in a line up (queue for those in Canada and UK), what does the customer really want? Do they want a happy, friendly banter and exchange of niceties or just to get their coffee so they can get back into their day? It depends. That is the reality for a retailer. While there is instinctively a need for some type of balance, it will ultimately depend on the needs of the customer. Some like to chat, some are in a hurry, some have been there so much they know everyone and some suck the team members will to live. Do you see why some organizations focus on the efficiency as means to keep the customer happy? Happy is so relative, and everyone wants “it” quick.
Freeze. Which is easier? For efficiency sake, process and procedures are much easier. They involve a set way of doing things – a formula. Happy or friendly is always subject to interpretation. Based on the personality and randomness of both team member and customer and the situations they embrace when they interact with one another, it is not wonder organizations default to formula. Life is unscripted; however business operations must have a script. Perhaps the bigger issue is how on earth do you define “friendly”? I’m sorry boss, is it my smile, what I say, how I say it or is it the manner in which I give service? To make the matter more complicated, the boss tells a manager or a team of managers they want the team to be friendlier; what happens next? I submit it comes down to a relative understanding. Then it depends on how that manager dictates the act and then how the team member further runs with it based on their own understanding. By the way, if there is no follow up or measurement, how do you know it is being done and being done well? Never mind, we do measure efficiency. We can measure that and will always. Only when a business can just as easily define the behaviors necessary for successful friendliness as the behaviors needed for efficiency can there ever truly be a balance. So size matters.
What do we glean from this concept? If efficiency is in higher demand or more easily implemented and maintaining some type of friendly atmosphere is what makes an organization stand out, what creates the middle ground? Ok, breathe. Now breathe again. Let’s keep it simple. Look at the business, look at your team and then look at the customer (rhetorically speaking right now).
First, the business. What are the particulars in what it is, what it does and what supports its function? Is it complex or relatively simple? Now, align your team’s abilities with the answers to these questions. Train your team to know what to do and what to do if “it” isn’t according to plan. This was the nature of my first book, the “what if” in the job. This affects the efficiency element. The second is the team. By fulfilling the first part, you influence the second part. To know your job (this is the science part of what is expected) is to allow the freedom of the empowerment in the job (this is the art part of what is expected). More in another blog on the science and art of the retail job. Find out what the team needs for support and from coaching. This directly stimulates their doing-ness in the job and their attitude associated with doing the job. The third part for the customer is all result. If you focus on educating the job and developing the team, you directly influence the outcome for the customer. To whatever extent you wish to influence it.
Too simple? Hummm. When someone reads my blog, I wonder what they think. Do they think I am being overtly friendly in my intent or are they seeing how the discussion fuels an act to impact efficiency in some way? My focus has always been to share best practices for managing and selling in the retail environment. What I do is my passion. So am I friendly and efficient enough? Maybe this is a question to ask oneself outside of what we do for a living. If we were to meet face-to-face and discuss the retail experience, where would you lean? And if were to meet at a social setting, where would your mindset take you? Just a thought…